Crashed and alone on a world mankind tried to leave behind, Darkout challenges players to survive on Illuna, in harsh, procedurally generated biomes, utilizing the game’s sandbox features to build shelters, craft weapons, and research new technologies. You are not alone.

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December 14, 2014

Yup you heard us, 1.3.1 is now public. Thanks to everyone who helped test beta version 1.3 we were able to not only test the content planned for release, but add some additional items as well as tweak more of the existing bugs that came out of the proverbial woodwork during testing.

Below is an extensive list of what has been done to improve the overall Darkout experience, enjoy! :)

GPS
- New item and blueprint
- With GPS in inventory press "G" to get current position.
- Equip the GPS to get continuous position updates.

Beacons
- place beacon and add description to mark a location or resource.
- Description in new PDM tab with Teleporters.
- Beacons within a certain range are marked on the radar.

Teleporter
- You can now place Teleporters
- Player invulnerable while still invisible during teleporting.
- There is a minimum and maximum range for teleporting of 400/800 blocks.
- You have to wait 2min before you can teleport again.
- Teleporter uses Player energy during teleportation

Mining (Toggle = M Key)
- Tunnel - dig a horizontal tunnel 4 blocks high.
- Mine 4 tiles at a time, in a vertical line, all 4 tiles must be accessible.
- Can be any mix of tiles.
- Tool effectiveness is determined by how many tiles are the wrong type for the tool and how many are too high a level.
- Resources dropped per tile.

Turrets
- Turrets to defend your base
- Sign on turret if out of ammo
- Turrets use bullets or laser modules
- When destroyed drop any ammo still in magazine

(in future this will be expanded to enemies attacking blocks and other devices)

Energy Gun
- Added the Energy Gun ( or RFBG for some of you) the big brother of the Grenade Launcher.
- Added blueprint for the Energy gun, you will have to find a data module first.
- Added blueprint for the Energy Laser Modulator - the Energy Gun ammo.

Flares and Lights
- Flares and glowsticks do physical damage when they hit an enemy.
- You now stop running to throw all grenade type weapons, and throw only 1 at a time.
- Enemies attack and destroy flares and glowsticks.
- Added damage points to lights.

General
- Arrow drops to ground when it reaches range limit.
- Added Health Points for all Lights.
- New PDM tab - Radar shows Teleporters & Beacons close to the player position. Also lists all placed Teleporters and Beacons, left click on name in list to edit description.

2. Current Content

General fixes and tweaks
- Mining drop increase not applied to placed tiles.
- Quest - If tech level too low for next log will now display hint.
- Fixed a problem that may cause crashes when you kill an enemy.
- Check when craft item for the first time if it is a group item.
- Fixed the story audio not pausing when game pause. It will also keep playing now when you TAB within the PDM Menu. You have to manually stop it or wait for it to complete.
- Fixed error where last message on Tooltip was not cleared when you hover over the Auto Slot after hovering over adjacent slot.
- Added tooltip on Story PDM for Play and Stop buttons.
- Made some cosmetic changes to borders on Items Tooltip and the Info Pop-up
- Check if using the correct container when you collect liquid from barrels etc.
- Fix for Restore World to only show worlds for the selected character mode.
- Fixed small bug, it did not move after spawned.
- Oxygen no longer reset when mining under water
- Drop depleted battery/antimatter/laser module/energy module if inventory is full

Crafting
- Increased the range within which the combinator will search through containers for parts needed in crafting or research
- Changed some stack quantities to be multiples of craft quantity
- Added Tier level separator in the Research menu
- Fix to show quantity select in multiples of the craft quantities in the Crafting menu

- Fix to pass color when items are used out of a barrel or tank
- Fix to unlock items when the prerequisite is a resource and it have been mined or harvested.

Camps and Chests
- Placement rework - makes containers more visible with lights and removes the shrubs around it.

Datacube
- Will only drop from chests when you need it for a quest.
- In Skylands there is a 20% chance the Wraith will drop a Datacube.
- Datacube will not be corrupted when you try to decode it and there are no more quests.

Quest
- You should not get any more hints when all quests have been completed.
- Changed message you receive if there are no logs or blueprints to decode
- If tech level too low for next log will now display hint.

Relic gates
- Check all inventory slots to get total for item in inventory, and go thru all stacks to update total used.
- When purifying a gate, enemies spawn thru gate and not all over anymore

Big lab cabinet
- Increased size in world
- Increased inventory size to 30.
- You will have to research the new cabinet before you can craft it.

NOTE: When you pick up any existing Big Lab Cabinets they will convert to the new size when you place them again.

Achievements
- cleaned up data errors caused by old bugs.
- Added icon for graves under Player
- Added count for Relic gates found and purified under Player list

Inventory and Containers
- Replaced Male Exo Suit3 icons, they were the wrong color.
- SHIFT+CLICK now move items between any two open containers. If inventory is open it counts as one of the containers.
- Changed message to "Container full" instead of "Inventory full".
- Implement auto split for inventory items when quantities are less than 4.
- Exclude Equipment and Suit slots from the mass move option.
- Fixed potential duplication when only part stack gets moved with the mass move function.
- fix to update default tools when any tool is moved to another container or to trash.
- You cannot trash or drop relic gate tablet or pieces.

September 11, 2014

The testing phase is almost over on the latest patch but we need your help to make sure it is as solid as possible. Due to our limited resources we thought what better way to get the patch tested than in an open beta on Steam.

If you would like to get access to the latest content and don’t mind reporting any bugs and balancing issues found then simply follow the steps below and you will have instant access to patch 1.3 Beta.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Make a backup of any and all Character and World files before applying the patch below as any corruptions cause due to unforeseen bugs may well be irreversible.

PATCH INSTRUCTIONS:1. Launch Steam
2. Navigate to your Games Library
3. Right-Click on Darkout and select Properties
4. Select the BETA Tab
5. In the drop down list select patch_open_beta
6. Wait for it to update and you will be ready to play!

BUG REPORTINGWe've created a category to report bugs for the patch beta on our forums and on Steam. Please use them in order for us to keep the current public version and the beta version reports in order and things will progress much smoother with fixing them :)

GPS
- New item and blueprint
- With GPS in inventory press "G" to get current position.
- Equip the GPS to get continuous position updates.

Beacons
- place beacon and add description to mark a location or resource.
- Description in new PDM tab with Teleporters.
- Beacons within a certain range are marked on the radar.

Teleporter
- You can now place Teleporters
- Player invulnerable while still invisible during teleporting.
- There is a minimum and maximum range for teleporting.
- You have to wait 2min before you can teleport again.
- Teleporter uses Player energy during teleportation

(in future this will be expanded to enemies attacking blocks and other devices)

General
- Arrow drops to ground when it reaches range limit.
- Added Health Points for all Lights.
- New PDM tab - Radar shows Teleporters & Beacons close to the player position. Also lists all placed Teleporters and Beacons, left click on name in list to edit description.

2. Current Content

General fixes and tweaks
- Mining drop increase not applied to placed tiles.
- Quest - If tech level too low for next log will now display hint.
- Fixed a problem that may cause crashes when you kill an enemy.
- Check when craft item for the first time if it is a group item.

Crafting
- Increased the range combinator will search containers for parts needed for crafting or research
- Changed some stack quantities to be multiples of craft quantity
- Added Tier level separator in the Research menu
- Fix to show quantity select in multiples of the craft quantities in the Crafting menu

Camps and Chests
- Placement rework - make containers more visible with lights and also remove the shrubs around it.

Relic gates
- Check all inventory slots to get total for item in inventory, and go thru all stacks to update total used.
- When purifying a gate, enemies spawn thru gate and not all over anymore

Big lab cabinet
- Increased size in world
- Increased inventory size to 30.
- You will have to research the new cabinet before you can craft it.

NOTE: When you pick up any existing Big Lab Cabinets they will convert to the new size when you place them again.

Achievements
- cleaned up data errors caused by old bugs.
- Added icon for graves under Player
- Added count for Relic gates found and purified under Player list

We look forward to hearing back from those who opt in and help test the beta, with your help we hope to make sure we deliver as stable a patch as possible.

Reviews

“Darkout is an enjoyable experience that is truly immersive as it is beautiful”
8/10 – GamingBolt

“To those people who enjoy to build and survive, this game will not be one that disappoints.”
4/5 – OnRPG

“This is one of the latest iterations in sandbox gaming with several mechanics that improve the genre. It’s not a clone of a preexisting game and it presents some unique features that gamers will come to love”
B – Gamefob

Steam Greenlight

About This Game

Crashed and alone on a world mankind tried to leave behind, Darkout challenges players to survive on Illuna, in harsh, procedurally generated biomes, utilizing the game’s sandbox features to build shelters, craft weapons, and research new technologies.

You are not alone. Light-sensitive creatures prowling the landscapes become most active at night and in a world shrouded by clouds the security of day will never come, instead, twilight periods allow players minor security to explore, rebuild, and gather resources.

Darkout’s deep history manifests itself through logs left behind by others, some recent, while others hearken back to long-extinct natives of Illuna, offering glimpses into what events led up to the pandemonium that now persists.

How will you survive?

Welcome to Darkout – Stage 1

What is stage 1?

Thanks to everyone’s feedback and a year of Beta the game is finally in a place which we can consider the base version of Darkout, Stage 1.

From this point on we will expand on the universe, Biomes, Gameplay, Items, etc.

We currently have 3 more Key stages planned and will reveal all the details of these plans as we develop the game further, not unlike our predecessors in the Sandbox genre.

In-between the stages we will also have some mini updates as needed :)

Stage 2 – 4 will contain

More Story

Why are you here and what is really going on? All this will be revealed as Each stage contains a new act for the storyline

UPDATE for the 1.3.1 release. This review initially covered the 1.2.9 official release and the 1.3.1.x beta. the 1.3.1.x beta has been rolled into an official 1.3.1 release set with no current active beta as of 12/26/2014

Warning, long read but I tried to touch as many major points as I could yet still be "brief".

Reviewing the 1.3.1 patched version of this game.

This is important to know because the game, while "officially released" is only complete through phase 1 of 4 as of patch 1.3.1. This game is a fully functional sandbox game from an exploration/building standpoint, but is only partially complete from a story line perspective as well as feature implementation.

So, with that said. Would I recommend this game? As the game stands today, in general, yes I would recommend this game under the following circumstances:

you get it on sale.

you don't mind that you may need to enable beta patches to get new content and bug fixes temporarily until the betas go full release.

you don't mind waiting for story line content as the developers continue to code away and some things may very well get dropped from their "complete" game when all is said and done.

you can live without multiplayer, at least for now.

If those don't apply to you, I would suggest you wait until the game is more complete, if it ever is as there is some indication that development may stop before this hits 100% completion on all 4 phases.

With that set of caveats out of the way and if you are still interested here are my thoughts on the game:

I really like this game and I really like the unrealized potential this game has. While it could end up being a real stinker long term, I am happy with my money investment (got it on sale for like 75% off) and won't feel ripped off if this is not developed any further. Some of the bugs are a bit annoying without the beta patch to fix them and there is not a lot of guideance in the game so you have to piece things together from game play and what little info you can gleen from the wiki and forums. The building mechanics are pretty decent and I never really felt the game to be TERRIBLY grindy, although it does have some grindy elements as most sand box games do.

Here are some pros (what I love) and cons that I personally feel the game has at this stage:

What I love about the game

The developers are still involved in the game and add features based on feedback in the forums.

The developers have been releasing new beta fixes and release level patches every few months.

The Sci Fi theme as I have been a SciFi fan for a very long time (nearly 40 years)

The devs are involved with the community and respond to suggestions and bugs if you join the forums.

The graphics and music are engaging. Just check the vids and pics for the game to get an idea of what I am talking about.

The concept of light as a strategic game element is used in a rather cool way that I have not been exposed to before.

The game offers a pretty decent challenge to newly created characters in normal mode.

The game has a story line that is intriguing to me, although it is incomplete at this time so it is more of an intro to the story line than a fully realized story line at this point.

Current cons, which hopefully will go away as this is developed

No mapping system. There are tools to work around this a little bit (gps and radar), but if you like Terraria's mini map (I do) then this will be a dissappointment for you as well.

Incomplete story line as mentioned before. You basically get an intro story line and then it just abruptly stops as the content is not complete.

some minor placement bugs with wiring and devices. with 1.3.1.2 I have not run into anything game ending, but prior to that patch level, there were some that would cause game crashes.

NO MULTIPLAYER. While I love the single player experience. I have corrupted my daughter into being a gamer and she cannot enjoy this game with me like she can Terraria so that is a big disappointment for both of us at this time.

In summary, overall I have enjoyed roughly 200 hours of play time in this game with 3 different characters. With the final character I have exhausted the story line as well as all of the extra "diary" entries you can find that give you a view into happenings for the lives of others who came before your character. I am happy with my money investment and would recommend this for casual single player enjoyment.

Technical Notes:The game has a fairly good core, but is buggy (some bugs are even game stopping, like corrupted saves). In addtion parts of it is extremely grindy and unfun. It literally took me a day or two to find a single core I was looking for, and I needed 8. Additionally, some materials are so rare you will spend days looking for them.

Development Notes:This game is extremely slow on releasing any patches (only one minor bug patch in a year). The community page and forums are mostly dead and the developer rarely releases any notes on what is going on. In fact it took quite some time for them to inform the community that they lost a core member of their team, were dropping multiplayer support. All and all the dev is extremely un-responsive to the community. The dev laid out a 3 stage content plan for the game. Stage 1 is not complete and baised off of the recent development woes I do not think they will be able to get out a stage 2 or 3.

Closing:I cannot recommend this game in its current state because it is rarely updated and the dev has terrible communication skills with their community. I would hold off several years before purchasing to give the dev time refine the game.

In summary, if you must buy a 2D sandbox game and you already own Terraria, buy Starbound instead. If you own Starbound too, look into other games, but this game is not worth full price. Not by a long shot. Get this from a bundle or a huge sale if you must have this game for some reason.

...

For those curious about how I managed to spend over 150 hours on a game I hate, I didn't. 35-40% of that time is from me keeping the game in the background while I was watching videos or screwing around with Akinator. Of course, I did spend a good amount of time actually playing the game, since I did bother to get 100% achievements on it.

If you like crafting, survival, gathering, exploration and sandbox games, then you should enjoy Darkout. Graphics are pretty decent for this sort of game, and the atmosphere has a special feel, its not redundant or boring. Some areas are pretty and colourful while other areas are dark and creepy. You start off simple, gathering and crafting things, trying to survive shelter, weapons etc.. Soon your little shed may end up being a huge complex mining base or a well fortified outpost. So there is a sense of progression and satisfaction which I love very much. If you are still hesitant about the game, wait for a sale :]

The game is good and I thoughly enjoyed it but the lack of content and the major lack of progress is quite painful since it has so much potential. Games like this are what give early access a bad name. looks very nice and has a good vibe but at the current price you will feel ripped off buying it. it is not a complete game and i doubt it ever will be. im really on the fence if i should give it a positive or negative, and to spite the fact it really doesnt deserve it i will be giving it a positve review since i got it on sale and for the short period i played it really was quite fun.

Currently the game is still unfinished. It was released in 1.0 Unfinished because they developers didnt know what early access, or Alpha meant(or just didnt want to admit that the game wasnt finished). The Multiplayer was completely abandonded. The company seems to be falling apart but trying to look like its not in an effort to comple the game(the lead developer announced they were leaving the company but shortly after all the requests for a refund stopped talking about it and still makes posts about the game). They game is supposed to have an end but dosent yet. We were told there would be 4 stages of development but before the second one was released they abandonded that devlopment style along with the multiplayer and other features that "Stage 2" was supposed to have. If you want a sandbox game there are 3 other games(not including Terraria the grandfather of the 2d sandbox genre) who although they are all still in Early Access have more content and are in a more complete state. I personnaly dont care about multiplayer, the fact that they abandoned it entierly, or the fact that they released an unfinished game as 1.0(plenty of EA, and Early Access, games have done so too). The main problem is that this game is Supposed to have and End(you will be able to keep building after the end), and it does not. If that changes I will change this review

Great sci-fi survival platformer game with smooth controls and great research system. Art style is wonderful, it has great atmoshpere. Despite it feels unfinished, Darkout has hours and hours full of content. Devs are also trying to expand it with patches.

Recommended in current state, also it will be better if gets a multiplayer option.

I like the style of the game and i had much fun raiding the world to build new stuff. The bad thing about this kind of games is that at some point there is nothing left to do. Still a very good game which kept me playing it a long time.

Brilliant and pretty, with an acceptable amount of content at this point. It its however still kinda sorta in early access, with development going forward somewhat slowly. It is however even it its current state definitely worth the bucks.

I must say that at full price I cant recommend this game. I dont even know if I should recommend it at all. I did enjoy it while it lasted, but today, after throwing a glow stick my game froze and crashed. When i loaded it back up the menu was completely messed up. There is fun to be had in this game, but it does have a lot of game breakers in it. i'm rating it down because I can no longer play it until it is fixed.

edit : Months later the bug still isnt fixed. I just reinstalled the game and the same bug is there. sadly this game isnt worth the time or hastle. it has too many game breaking bugs. take caution with this one

Very enjoyable game... especially compared to Starbound which was pretty boring in my opinion. This is a good and be compared to my fun in Terraria. This is no terraria clone... this game has a good concept and good design. I especially love the time needed (cooldown) to research and craft things... and the fact you need workbenches / electricity / chemlabs to do stuff which is somewhat needs more time and thinking than crafting in Terraria.

You'll see alot of bad reviews of this game, you'll also see that many of these bad reviews are from people who have spent many many hours playing Darkout, alot upwards of 100 hours, like myself. The game is jammmed with content, and while the story side of things is glitchy and unfinished, the crafting and research is brilliant. And some of the mechanics are well thought out and considerate. Like the fact you dont need a particular resource in you personal inventory to craft, it only need be stored nearby. So simple yet so brilliant.As for the story, i had played many hours before i relised there was one, and when i tried to follow it, i could only get so far. But it does not impinge on the core game, which is what we want.I hope the Devs get their act together, as this is a greatly missed opportunity.

So here is a scenario, you have been working your way through the badlands, fighting off creatures to get some tar (because u need tar like a fatman needs cake) when you discover a hole, you decide it might be within your best interest to spelunk the cave for the riches inside. You decide to play it safe and make a platform ladder down to the bottom, you put the first platform down and another just below it and as you try to go down to the next platform you realize the one you are on is broken, your character vibrating in place and making a smacking sound like a demented fish. So you try to inch your way to the edge of the platform where it may work and end up running right off the end and plummeting to the ground and dying instantly because apparently your character doesnt know how to walk. Thanks to your trusty recall device (that neither you nor anyone else knows how to work) you respawn in your house miles from your death point irritated and armorless, now you get to live the hell of running back past the army of monsters that can now effectively kill you in two hits and then try to make your way down the death pit again to get your armor which is the most important item in the game and just so happen to be the only thing you drop on death.

I honestly don't get the hate the game recieves. Crashes, Not Finished, Unplayable or outright crappy.

The crashes have apparently been fixed since i didn't experienced any and while it's out of EA, it is still not finished.Only the 1. Stage has been finished, the other are coming soon. They are already working on new stuff (Next patch contains turrets, vaults, teleporters...).

It takes to develope these things since those are rendered as 3D models instead of sprites.

Overall, it's actually a beatiful game with a rather unique Darkness/Light mechanic.

Perhaps it could be less grindy and needs more content but so far i'm content.

"Darkout" is wicked: "Alien vs Predator" in "Terraria." Feels more natural than "Edge of Space." Hot key 1 auto-changes to the tool you need for the resource; nice touch there. The parallax is like "Terraria" but with dynamic lighting galore & circa Playstation 1 styled characters. Slick UI, easy to use, nothing annoying.Venture into the dark and monsters start to spawn... got to carry a latern or be a good shot to survive. The way the monsters collect is a bit like a TD sometimes. They do not like me mining n the dark at all. Lots of potential still for this one. More survival than sandbox, but still we've go ourt 2 layers to destroy, base to build up, etc.The [m] button makes the tool you're using focus on 1, or hit 3 blocks at once... that alone is freakin' amazing. Drag & drop placement out of inventory, very practical, indeed it's the little things"Darkout" and "Windforge" are both really good for alternatives to "Terraria." It's got "1-more-block" syndrome & the story / atmosphere are new enough that it's an adventure. The art is especially beautiful, with glowing flora and fauna, sometimes I caught myself just looking around. Guns shoot well & are responsive. Fortress building is excellent, if a bit odd sometimes, it still functions faster and more efficiently than all the other sandboxes. It is possible to trap enemies as well, which is pretty hilarious, providing ways to make XP grinders and the like once you have enough resources. Greatest of all, "Darkout is, well, DARK; It's easy on the eyes, and strikingly beautiful.

Game looks incredibly promising. Unfortunately, I am trying to play on a laptop at current so I'm having some pretty bad lag issues but that is entirely my system and not the game (educated guess). The lighting effects are spectacular, and the atmosphere is far darker and grittier than other games with similar mechanics. If you've ever played a side-scrolling builder and thought "I wish this game took itself more seriously" then I recommend giving Darkout a try.

I've had a lot of fun with this game. Its atmospheric and looks really good. Gameplay works fairly well. The crafting system is pretty good. Its not a life changing game but if you can get it on sale, its worth it.

Of all the Terraria clones, this is the only one that impressed me. Now, I'm not saying it's perfect. I'm not a big fan of how they gate their recipes (I always get stuck and stop progressing at some point). I am also not a fan of how batteries are disposable. (What, no rechargeable batteries or personal power generators in the future?) Otherwise, it is pretty good. Graphics are the best of breed for this type of game. Gameplay is responsive, outside of a few construction quirks. I especially like the jetpack, if and when you get it. Laser guns are fun too.